Senior Benefits Accounting Analyst
DRiV · Skokie, IL · 1 mo ago
Finance$83k–$95k/yrVolunteer
Key Responsibilities
- Aid in benefit-related payroll reconciliations, including employee deductions, employer contributions, benefit funding, payroll registers, general ledger activity, vendor invoices, and benefit administration system reports.
- Prepare routine journal entry support and assist with recurring entries for benefit costs, payroll-related liabilities, accruals, prepaid expenses, reclasses, and true-ups under manager guidance.
- Support balance sheet account reconciliations related to benefits, payroll deductions, retirement plans, leave programs, workers’ compensation, and related employee cost accounts.
- Research reconciling items and data differences by coordinating with Payroll, HR, vendors, and internal stakeholders to help resolve timing, coding, funding, or deduction issues.
- Aid in month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close activities for benefit and payroll-related accounts, ensuring assigned tasks are completed on time and supported with appropriate documentation.
- Prepare assigned account reconciliations, schedules, rollforwards, and variance analyses for review by Accounting leadership.
- Maintain organized documentation and evidence supporting reconciliations, journal entry support, vendor invoice reviews, payroll reconciliations, approvals, and audit requests.
- Identify routine data issues, reconciling differences, or process questions and escalate timely to support accurate reporting and strong controls.
- Work with Payroll and HR to help validate benefit deduction changes, employee and employer contribution updates, arrears, retroactive adjustments, refunds, taxable benefits, imputed income, and payroll funding impacts.
- Aid in reviewing and reconciling vendor invoices and funding requests to payroll, HRIS, benefit administration, and general ledger data.
- Aid in benefit-related financial reporting, cost trend analysis, budgeting support, audit requests, and ad hoc accounting projects as assigned.
- Aid in process improvements, data cleanup, account coding, system mapping, and reporting enhancements affecting benefit and payroll accounting processes.
Required Qualifications
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field required; recent graduates with relevant coursework or internship experience will be considered.
- Certification: CPA eligibility, CPP, CEBS, or related accounting, payroll, or benefits certification is a plus, but not required.
- Experience: 2–5 years of accounting, finance, payroll, benefits, internship, or related experience; exposure to payroll reconciliation, account reconciliation, general ledger activity, Excel, ERP systems, payroll systems, HRIS platforms, or vendor invoice review preferred.
- Core Competencies: Foundational understanding of accounting concepts, general ledger activity, payroll accounting, accruals, prepaid expenses, liabilities, expense classification, and account reconciliations. Interest in developing experience with payroll deductions, employer contributions, vendor invoices, benefit funding, payroll registers, HRIS data, and benefit administration system reports. Strong analytical, reconciliation, and problem-solving skills with attention to detail, data accuracy, and documentation quality. Ability to prepare routine journal entry support, account reconciliations, variance explanations, schedules, audit support, and close-related deliverables under manager guidance. Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including formulas, pivot tables, lookups, reconciliations, and large data set review; willingness to build advanced Excel skills. Exposure to ERP, payroll, HRIS, benefits administration, or vendor platforms such as SAP, OneStream, SuccessFactors, ADP, Fidelity, or similar systems preferred. Basic working knowledge of employee benefit programs, payroll cycles, deduction processing, employer contributions, taxable benefits, imputed income, and related accounting considerations preferred. Ability to manage confidential payroll and employee benefit data with discretion and follow established controls over sensitive information. Collaborative communication style with the ability to work effectively across Accounting, Finance, Payroll, HR, Legal, IT, vendors, consultants, and business teams. Curiosity and continuous improvement mindset with an interest in learning reconciliation processes, close routines, controls, reporting, systems, and data integrity.
Compensation
The base pay for this position generally ranges between $83,000 - $95,000. Additional incentives may be provided as part of a market competitive total compensation package. Factors, such as but not limited to, geographical location, relevant experience, education, and skill level may impact the pay for this position.